Finland

New Conservative Gov’t to Cut Death Tax in Finland

Making company wealth exempt from inheritance tax, one of the goals in the programme of Finland's new centre-right government, may end up killing the entire inheritance tax system, tax experts were quoted as saying by business daily Kauppalehti on Wednesday.

Heikki Niskakangas, a professor at the Helsinki School of Economics, told the paper that the people would never swallow a scheme where a few thousand of the richest families in the country were exempt and ordinary wage-earners had to pick up the bill

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France

Masterplan for French economy

PARIS: French President Nicolas Sarkozy's government yesterday unveiled details of a costly masterplan to "shock" the economy back to life, the first part of his ambitious economic and social reform drive.

The eight-chapter tax and finance bill seeks to exempt overtime work from taxation; make mortgage interest payments tax deductible; all but eliminate inheritance tax; and put a 50 per cent cap on overall individual taxation.

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Hungary

Hungarian PM speaks in favor of abolishing inheritance tax

Inheritance tax may be abolished as early as January 2008 if a proposal by opposition party MDF is not vetoed by smaller governing party SZDSZ, according to nol.hu. The governing MSZP and oppostion party Fidesz are ready to consider restructuring the tax.

Hungarian family assets, which are modest by European standards, cannot be seriously burdened, said Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsány in a recent interview to Napi Gazdaság. This was the first time he clearly stood by the proposal to abolish the inheritance tax, although the government never rejected it completely.

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Jamaica

Death Tax Repeal on the Agenda for Jamaican Parliament

Opposition spokesman on finance and the public service, Audley Shaw, yesterday laid out the Jamaica Labour Party's (JLP's) economic and social agenda which, he said, would deliver economic growth of six to 10 per cent over the medium to long term if the party is elected to run the country after the next elections.

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Scotland

SNP Defends Low Income Tax Proposals

The Scottish National Party (SNP) has defended its proposals for the introduction of a local income tax to replace the current council tax system.

The party's deputy leader Nicola Sturgeon told BBC Radio Scotland's Good Morning Scotland programme that such an income-related tax would be "fairer".

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Singapore

Singapore abolishes death tax - markets self as offshore jurisdiction

Singapore Minister for Finance Tharman Shanmugaratnam on February 15 delivered Singapore's fiscal 2008 budget.1 The budget enhances Singapore's allure as one of the top private wealth centers in the world by eliminating the estate duty.

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Axing death tax a boon to the middle class

A Singapore manufacturer did his sums after Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam scrapped estate duty last Friday.

He was surprised to discover that his family would save at least $200,000, based on his assets of a terrace house, cash in the bank, Central Provident Fund (CPF) savings, shares and his stake in the company.

‘I didn’t know it would have cost me so much,’ said the 57-year-old, who put his net worth at about $6 million. He spoke to The Straits Times on condition that he would not be named.

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South Korea

Inheritance Tax Cut for SMEs Should be Advanced

Deputy Prime Minister and Finance & Economy Minister Kwon O-kyu has revealed that a reform in the tax system including inheritance and donation tax cut for domestic small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) is under way.

As DPM Kwon has admitted himself, a number of SMEs in Korea which operate as a family business have suffered high inheritance and donation taxes and had difficulties in continuing business in the country. As a result, many SMEs have given up their business or moved their operational bases to other countries to avoid the excessive tax burden.

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Tiawan

Insurance Chairman Calls for Axing Gift, Inheritance Taxes

Chu Ping-yu said officials should learn from Hong Kong, which canceled the taxes and posted a 20 percent rise in revenue

The government should reduce or even cancel inheritance and gift taxes to stem capital outflow and narrow the gap between rich and poor, said Chu Ping-yu, chairman of Taiwan Life Insurance Co.

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